Reading, listening to, and questioning America... from the southern Great Plains

The great moment has come. They're conceding that "Obamacare" cuts costs.

Florida's Republican Governor Rick Scott was one of the Affordable Care Act's biggest enemies. He would have nothing to do with it. He didn't just decide against it, he led a campaign to bring it down.

In the hierarchy of Obamacare haters, Rick Scott, the Republican
governor of Florida, ranked near the top. In 2009 the former hospital
executive bankrolled ads
warning of government-run health care, with horror stories from Canada
and Britain. In 2010 Mr Scott campaigned with the promise to scuttle the
health law. Florida led states’ efforts to challenge Obamacare in
court. When the Supreme Court upheld the law in June, Mr Scott declared,
“This is just another burden the federal government has put on American
families and small businesses.”

Though conservatives despaired
over the ruling, some took comfort in the fact that it gave states the
option of rejecting a major part of the law: the expansion of Medicaid,
which funds health care for the poor. Given the choice, Mr Scott
declared that Florida would opt out of the Medicaid expansion. He even
wrote a column titled, "More Medicaid? No Thanks." ...The Economist

In 2009, supporters of the new Affordable Care Act faced the prospect of a massive Republican effort to cripple and, eventually, repeal Obamacare, state by state. Voters who embraced the new healthcare system foresaw a gloomy future in which the Obamacare, a small step towards a single payer system, would be destroyed. And, because we're also optimists, we liked the idea of an eventual concession on the part of the right. We pictured their discovery that, after all, the new Affordable Care Act would lower costs, make the system work better, and extend coverage to more Americans.

The moment has come. The concessions are rolling in.

On Wednesday, Scott dropped the mantle of chief opponent and agreed
to a three-year expansion of the Medicaid program. It was a crucial
victory for the Obama administration, eager to bring a big-state
Republican on board. Sweeter yet because Scott seemed to so relish his
role during cable TV appearances as fiercest opponent.

Scott’s
reversal makes him the seventh and highest-profile Republican governor
to agree to expand the program. Analysts say the reshaped Medicaid could
provide health insurance to an additional one million poor Floridians. ...Palm Beach Post

Governor after governor is accepting the new order of health care.

Mr Scott is not the only Republican to support Medicaid’s
expansion. The governors of Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North
Dakota and Ohio have said they will expand Medicaid, too. As more of
them come around, the pressure mounts on hold-outs to get their slice of
the pie. When such a sweet deal is on offer, it is tough to resist. ...The Economist

Oregon's Governor John Kitzhaber has ample proof that the new system works and works well. And it has brought costs down.

“We created a model that focuses on prevention and wellness and the
community-based management of chronic conditions, which drives the bulk
of medical costs,” Kitzhaber told Here & Now’s Robin Young. ...Here & Now, WBUR

In the Here & Now interview, Kitzhaber gives ample details of how the new system works and how it has brought costs down. Believe me -- and particularly if you are not a believer! -- the interview is worth listening to.